Right Thing
by Klutzygirl33
Summary: Derek stepped up to the plate and decided to do the right thing when Casey's boyfriend left her after she became pregnant. They grow closer. Derek/Casey


**Disclaimer**: I don't own Life With Derek and never will. No copyright infringement intended.

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><p>Derek Venturi smiled and shifted his daughter around as his father and stepmother walked into the room. "Hey!"<p>

"Hey. Now give me my granddaughter." Nora walked over and Derek reluctantly handed the newborn over. He didn't ever want to give her up.

"How's Casey doing?" George beamed at the baby currently in his wife's arms.

"Good. Pretty tired, though. She was in labor for seventeen hours, though, and did refuse an epidural. So I'm just letting her sleep until the baby wakes up again."

"She's so beautiful. If we didn't already have five kids, I'd want another one." Nora smiled wistfully.

George looked panicked for a second. "How about you just play with the baby, alright? And Derek, does she have a name yet?"

He shook his head. "Casey hasn't told me what she's picked out yet. I'm sure she'll tell me when she wakes up."

Casey yawned and then slowly opened her eyes. "Hi."

"Hey. You want her back?" Nora was reluctant to give the baby up, but she would.

"Sure." She held her hands out as her mother carefully deposited the newborn in her arms. Casey couldn't believe she was a mom now – That she and Derek were parents. It was a little surreal. In fact, this whole pregnancy had been a rollercoaster.

After a few minutes, Casey handed the baby back to Derek, who had clearly wanted to hold her again. He couldn't believe how attached he was to her already. "Hey, Dad?"

"Yeah?" George waited for his son to speak.

He looked up. "Did you feel this way when I was born?" Derek couldn't believe how much love he held for his little girl. He had never expected to feel this way, and was grateful he had the chance to.

"Of course I did. I felt the way you're feeling now when Edwin, Marti, and Simon were born, too. Greatest feeling in the world, isn't it?"

Derek nodded. He didn't even care that Casey and Nora were hearing their conversation because nothing else but his daughter (and Casey) mattered at the moment. "I love her so much."

"And that feeling will never go away."

"So a name yet?" Nora was eager to hear her granddaughter's name. The fact that Casey and Derek wouldn't tell anyone their choices had driven everyone crazy – Edwin and Lizzie had even snooped to figure something out, but couldn't. They had then tried sending in the big guns – Marti and Simon, since neither Derek nor Casey could resist them. However, that hadn't worked either, so the McDonald-Venturi's had reluctantly given up.

"Sorry, Mom, no. We're down to three choices that we really love, and I can't decide between them. But I promise you'll know soon. She can't be called Baby Girl forever."

"I don't know. Pretty good name isn't it?" Derek couldn't help but laugh at his own joke, but Casey rolled her eyes at her boyfriend.

"We'll bring your brothers and sisters by later, alright? I know they're excited to see her. Hopefully, she'll have a name by then." Nora didn't want to leave, but she and George really had to get home.

"Sure. We'll look forward to it." Casey hugged her mother and stepfather, and then waved as they walked out of her room.

"You look tired, Case. Why don't you go back to sleep?"

"Why don't you go to sleep? I know you haven't slept since I went into labor, and you look exhausted." She was worried about him.

"Fine." Derek handed the baby back to her mother, and then tried to relax in his uncomfortable chair. To his surprise, he fell asleep almost immediately.

He woke up about an hour and a half later to the sound of his crying daughter. Casey was trying to comfort her. "Hey, what's up with that? She hungry?"

"Sorry we woke you. She ate already, and her diaper has also been changed. I think she's just tired." She laid the baby down in her incubator.

"Eh, that's okay. We're going to have to get used to the lack of sleep anyway."

"So, when you were out, I finally decided on her first name."

"Oh yeah. What is it, Babe?"

"Well, Daddy, I'd like to introduce you to Rhiannon. And of course, you get to choose her middle name."

"You named her after one of your favorite Fleetwood Mac songs?" Derek smiled at her knowingly.

"No! I named her after the Welsh goddess."

"You keep telling yourself that."

"Der-ek!"

"Casey!"

"Come over here and kiss me, dork."

"Gladly." Derek leaned over and kissed her just as Rhiannon let out a little squeal.

"Guess she likes that."

"So I think her middle name should be Lily." Derek had no clue why he liked that name, but he did. He couldn't get it out of his head.

"Rhiannon Lily. I love it." Casey picked the baby back up.

"Hello there, Rhiannon Lily McDonald. I'm your daddy."

"Rhiannon Lily Venturi," Casey corrected.

"You're giving her my last name? For real?" They had discussed it, but Derek didn't actually think the baby would get his last name.

"Of course I'm giving her your last name. You are Rhiannon's father, Derek. Just because you didn't have anything to do with her conception doesn't mean you're not her daddy. And she'll always know it."

"I love you so much. Both of you" Derek kissed her and then placed a kiss on the top of Rhiannon's head.

"We love you, too." Casey rocked the baby to sleep and then put her back in her incubator.

_It had all started eight months previously, when Casey learned she was pregnant. The father – her boyfriend of thirteen months – had immediately broke off their relationship and told her he didn't want to be involved. Derek had come home to find Nora comforting a crying Casey._

"_What are you crying about this time? You and Bryan break up?" Derek had questioned._

"_It's more than that." Nora gave her stepson a reluctant smile and brushed Casey's hair back from her forehead. _

_Casey wanted Derek's advice – He was pretty good about it. "I'm pregnant, and Bryan doesn't want the baby. He broke up with me and told me he doesn't want to be involved. He'll sign away the parental rights as soon as the baby's born."_

_Derek saw red. "Where is he? I'm going to kick that fucking bastard's ass!" He went to turn around and go find the bastard that would dare hurt Casey, but she stopped him._

"_Please don't. It's not worth it, Derek." _

_Derek_ was_ torn, but he reluctantly joined them on the couch. "So what are you going to do?" He still wanted to kick Bryan's ass, but comforting Casey was more important right now._

"_I think I'm going to keep the baby. I know I'm only twenty-three, but I can do. I'm glad I have the choice of an abortion, but I don't want that. And I don't want to give him or her up for adoption. I want it. I can be a mom, right?"_

"_Of course you can, Case. You can do anything you set your mind to. And I'll be with you every step of the way." Derek didn't know why he had just promised that, but he meant it._

"_You mean it?" Casey was flattered that he would accept this huge responsibility when he didn't need to._

"_Of course I do." Derek reluctantly gave her a hug and then pulled back. With the help of George and Edwin, he later did kick Bryan's ass._

Casey's voice brought Derek out of his flashback. "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing much. Just the day you told me that you were pregnant."

"Oh. It wasn't the best day, but we did get our perfect little girl out of it."

"We definitely did." Derek had only been a father for a few hours, but he already adored the role.

Meanwhile. Casey got lost in thought of her first ultrasound. Derek had taken his promise seriously, and had been with her every step of the way. He had held her hair back when morning sickness kicked in, and got her anything she craved.

"_I think we get to hear the baby's heartbeat today." Casey was excited about that, even though the thought of motherhood was terrifying. _

"_It's probably going to be awesome." Derek still didn't know why he had chosen to get involved in Casey's pregnancy, but he wasn't about to back up. He was in too deep now._

"_This ultrasound is one of the best," chimed in Nora. She had come along for moral support today, although she was clearly wasn't needed. Casey had Derek. _

_A little while later, they were set up in the room and it was time for the ultrasound. "There's the baby," the doctor informed them. A few minutes later, they heard the whoosh of a loud and very fast heartbeat._

_Tears immediately came to Casey's eyes and she grabbed Derek's hand. "That's our baby." She couldn't believe it._

"_That's our baby," Derek agreed. Without thinking, he leaned down and kissed her on the lips. He pulled away rather quickly, however, and pretended like nothing had happened. So did Casey._

_Nora startled, but didn't mention anything. She had a feeling that Casey and Derek were finally on the path to a relationship together, and she was happy about it. She just hoped that no one got hurt._

"Case, you're smiling. What are you thinking about?" Derek had been wondering what his girlfriend had been lost in thought about.

"The first time we heard Miss Rhiannon's heartbeat."

"That was a good day." Derek considered it one of his best memories with Casey. And then he got lost in thought again.

_Casey was six months pregnant, and driving him nuts about the nursery. They had moved in together because it was convenient. Their family kept making comments about how it was about time, but they ignored them. They didn't want to talk about their inevitable path to a relationship. _

"_I know we have to do this, but Babe, we still have three more months left." _

"_Exactly! There's only three more months until our son or daughter is born." No one mentioned the fact that Casey and Derek kept referring to the baby as theirs since neither one mentioned it either. Casey and Derek would realize what they were doing soon._

"_I still think we should have found out the sex of the baby." Derek was impatient about that. He didn't want to wait until the delivery room to find out whether the baby was a boy or a girl._

"_And I want it to be a surprise. Now, will you please start working on the nursery?" Casey winced as the baby gave her a particularly hard kick._

"_Is the soccer player at it again?"_

"_What do you think? He or she wants you to finish the nursery!" _

_Derek placed his hand on her swelling stomach and laughed as the baby kicked again. "Hey, little one. Are you giving Mommy trouble again? We've talked about this." In response, he received yet another kick._

_When he looked up, Casey had tears in her eyes, but she was grinning at him. She knew where this path was headed, and although she was terrified, she decided to take the first step. Casey kissed him and soon, they were on the couch, making out._

"_You really want to do this, Klutzilla?"_

"_Der-ek! And yes, I do. I'm in love with you." She hadn't meant to reveal her secret this soon, but oh well. It was out there now._

"_I love you, too." He laughed and then kissed her again. _

_And from then on, they were an official couple with a baby on the way._

"I think Rhiannon wants her daddy." Casey handed their crying daughter over to Derek, who gladly took her.

"Hey, what's got you so upset? We're here, we're not leaving you. We're never leaving you. You and Mommy are stuck with me forever."

"And we're glad about that." Casey hadn't seen Derek in action as a father for very long, but she already loved it. He was so sweet with Rhiannon.

Derek looked up again and squeezed her hand. She squeezed back, and then tried not to cry. Damn those postpartum hormones. "Hey, don't cry. You know I can't stand it when you cry."

"You're used to it, especially lately." Casey had been a hormonal mess during the pregnancy and had freaked out Derek several times. Luckily for him, George and Dennis had schooled him on how to react to a pregnant woman's mood swings.

"This is true." When the baby fell asleep again, Derek placed her back in the incubator. He got something out of his pocket, and Casey was just about to ask him what he was doing when he got down on one knee and held out an engagement ring.

She gasped. "Derek?"

"Cassandra McDonald, I love you. Simple as that. We've shared a home since we were fifteen years old. We have a daughter together. I can't imagine my life without you anymore. God, how that sappy is that? So gross. Marry me?"

Casey really did burst into tears, but she nodded. "Yes!" She giggled as Derek stood up and slipped the ring on her finger.

"_You bought Casey an engagement ring? You, Derek Venturi? You actually want to get married?" Edwin stared at him in shock while Lizzie struggled not to squeal in excitement._

"_Yes." Derek was annoyed with his siblings' reaction._

"_You've only been officially together for two months." _

"_That doesn't matter. This is the most romantic thing you have ever done." Lizzie couldn't wait until he proposed. _

"_I'm not doing it now. I'm waiting until after the baby gets here." Derek didn't want Casey to think he was proposing just because she was pregnant – She'd say no, and he really didn't want that. _

"_Well, I better be your best man. Congratulations, bro." Edwin smiled at him, and then he and Lizzie went off to have some "private time", whatever that meant. Derek had some suspicions, but he wasn't about to share them with anyone yet._

_He then sat down to watch TV and wait for his eight months pregnant girlfriend to get home from her day out with Emily. _

_Derek Venturi couldn't wait until Casey McDonald was his wife._

Two days later, Casey and Rhiannon were discharged from the hospital. The newly engaged couple couldn't wait to start life as a family of three.

And to think, this had all started because Derek Venturi had done the right thing and stepped up to help his stepsister raise a baby that wasn't his.

Not many men would do that.


End file.
